Main Tropes Index

Troperville

Editing Help

Tools

Toys

Narrative

Genre

Media

Topical Tropes

Other Categories

Custom Search

Everything's Better With Princesses

redirected from Main.EverythingsBetterWithPrincesses

alt title(s): Everythings Better With Princesses; Princess
Mary Engelbreit gets this trope perfectly.

"You're not really a princess! You just took the title cause it sounds cute! Take some authority! You're a queen! Queen it up, bitch!"

For a princess is an elegant thing,
Delicate and dainty as a dragonfly's wing.
You can recognize a lady by her elegant air,
But a genuine princess is exceedingly rare!
Once Upon A Mattress, "Many Moons Ago"

You've turned on the latest kids' TV program, and look, there's a girl in a floofy pink dress with a wand — and she's got a tiara and ermine cape. Whether she's The Chick, an Action Girl, a Magical Girl, leader of La Resistance, or whatever you can think of, there's one very strong possibility: she's royalty. More specifically, a princess.

After years of exposure to the classical princess we have this interpretation that princesses have it easy. They don't have to work (that's their parents' job!), they get everything they want (money and power go a long way) and, in girls' series, they have very marketable wardrobes (blame the Ermine Cape Effect).

Usually, if she's got powers, she's The Chosen One, and it's all because of her lineage. Expect her sheltered life to make her not much of a hero, though. She'll likely be the Staff Chick at best. This is also true when growing up in a normal family to hide her from her enemies.

Any Kingdom worth its name has a princess. If that's the case, expect a violent conflict with her Aloof Big Brother, The Evil Prince, and/or the Evil Chancellor. Curiously, the princess herself is never the evil one  *, even if everyone else at Court is a complete scumbag — the role seems to be considered innately pure.

By the way do not expect princes to be given anything like the same sympathy as their sisters (at least in modern works). They are very often either outright bad or well meaning but stupid.

Note that you never see any minor nobles as lead female characters, nor any young queens. If she's a royal, she's the princess. Her sketchy genetic makeup will be avoided altogether, and you won't see a single Habsburg chin around.

If she's surprisingly good in a fight despite her sheltered upbringing, it might be because Authority Equals Asskicking.

Oftentimes, especially in video games, she is the 100% ruler of a region. This is sometimes justified by the region in question being a principality rather than a kingdom. Of course, it is also often not.

See also Princess Tropes.


    open/close all folders 

Examples

    Anime & Manga 

    Comics 

    Film Animated 

    Film Live Action 

    Literature 

    Live Action TV 

    Music 

    Toys 

    Video Games 

    Web Comics 

    Web Original 

    Western Animation 

    Musical Theatre 


Ermine Cape EffectRoyalty And Nobility TropesThe Evil Prince
Everything's Better With PlushiesEverythings Better With IndexesEverything's Better With Rainbows
Disney PrincessPrincess TropesFallen Princess
Even The Guys Want HimStock CharactersThe Everyman
Even The Girls Want HerAlways FemalePrincess Classic